A look at cinema’s journey during the festive season

Filmmakers usually aim to capitalise on long holidays and the celebratory mood in India and overseas. Experts say the last quarter accounts for up to a-third of box office earnings. “The contribution of these three months (October-December) is approximately 30-35% of the entire box office earnings for the year,” said Atul Mohan, a film analyst.

A Mint analysis of movie releases between 2000 and 2024 shows that in 17 out of 25 years, the top-money spinner film of the year was released in the September to December period. Often the films coincided with key festivals.

These include the likes of Mohabbatein (2000) and Veer-Zaara (2004) that were released on Diwali; Ghajini (2008), 3 Idiots (2009) and Dangal (2016) hit the screens in the Christmas week, whereas Jawan (2023) was released on Janmashtami. In the past decade, south cinema also began making its mark as their stars gained mass appeal with movies like Rajinikanth’s 2.0 (2018) and Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024) emerging as the biggest festive movies of the respective years.

Overall, many years have seen three out of five biggest movies in the festive season, underscoring the broader significance of these months for the film industry. 2020 was the only year that saw no releases in the second-half due to pandemic-related restrictions.

Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif have been the king and queen bees of the festive season, as their movies were the biggest releases in September-December period between 2000 and 2024, a Mint analysis showed. Khan had 13 big movie releases, where the figure stood at five for Kaif, the highest among her contemporaries.

These include the actor’s iconic films from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) to Om Shanti Om (2007). In Kaif’s stable, her major festive hits include Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), Dhoom 3 (2013), and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).

Apart from the star blitz, the festive season has also witnessed epic movie clashes with major films going head-to-head at the box office. Remember Mohabbatein versus Mission Kashmir or Om Shanti Om versus Saawariya? Sometimes a clear winner has emerged, while other times it’s a neck-and-neck race.

What’s changed?

While the three Khans ruled the festive seasons in the past, this year tells a different story. Bollywood’s festive line-up lacks the mega-budget, pan-India crowd-pullers that once defined the season. Analysts point to a combination of high ticket prices, post-pandemic volatility in the Hindi theatrical market, and the absence of new all-India stars.

“Traditionally, Bollywood used to have star-studded films lined up during the festival season. That is no longer the case. The releases this festive season are lacking the pan-India mass appeal that the south movies like Kantara: Chapter 1 are having” noted Sreedhar Pillai, a film trade analyst.

The rise of OTT platforms has made watching a film just a click away, reshaping audience behaviour. Film analyst Atul Mohan warned that as Bollywood leans on old formulas, the industry risks losing relevance unless it delivers compelling content that makes the big-screen experience worth the ticket price.

“We no longer see the kind of cinema we used to have earlier. High ticket prices and plenty of entertainment at our disposal through OTTs have affected the movie business now,” Mohan said.

Multiplex operators, meanwhile, are recalibrating to meet shifting tastes. “Unlike the quintessential romantic, comedy and action blockbusters in the past festive seasons, this time we have a diverse line-up, from big-budget Hollywood films to medium-budget Bollywood movies,” Aamer Bijli, lead, marketing and innovation, PVR INOX, said.